passionate.vegan.rambling

Birthday Celebration Dinner

My mother-in-law does not like birthdays. She gets very cranky when one approaches and does not want any fuss made over her; frankly, she’d rather curl up in bed with a good book and just wait the day out than actually enjoy it. So, we always stick with a low-key, simple family dinner when that dreaded day rolls around.

This year, Husband and I decided that we would make her birthday dinner for her as her gift (it’s the least we could do considering my in-laws have let us come and stay with them while we attempt to get ourselves back on our feet!) and seeing as it was a chilly November day, I figured a thick, hearty stew with a little carb heaven on the side would be perfect.

I settled on the Smoky Red Peppers ‘N’ Beans Gumbo and Skillet Cornbread recipes from the almighty Veganomicon. My mother-in-law is a huge fan of roasted red peppers and an even bigger fan of one-pot meals so I figured it would be perfect and perfection it surely was!

My first bit of excitement was roasting my own red peppers, something I’ve always wanted to do but have never actually got around to doing. Mind you, I’ve never had a gas range and I imagine you need the flame to help the skins char properly. Once the peppers were finished, the recipe came together really quick.

I made a few slight changes to the original recipe: I used fresh green beans instead of the frozen okra, I used chopped yellow bell peppers instead of green, I went with a 6-bean medley instead of the red kidney beans, and I didn’t have any beer in the house so I substituted an extra cup of veggie stock. It was a delicious gumbo…the charred peppers and the added liquid smoke gave such wonderful flavour to the dish, and the thick, tomato-flavoured broth made the dish a great deep red colour.

The cornbread, however, was kinda “meh” for me. Everyone else seemed to love it but I wasn’t crazy about it. I am extremely picky about my cornbread! I like it to be a little more on the gritty side with lots of sweet flavour (I usually opt for brown sugar in mine) and a great crust on the edges. This one didn’t have that. I found the interior to be a little on the gummy side…I did bake it in a baking pan instead of a skillet…maybe that affected the overall texture? Oh well, it was still dip-worthy and sopped up the leftover broth from the gumbo with ease.

For dessert, Husband and I made a checkerboard cake. It’s a retro “company” cake that never fails to impress people once sliced. You prepare two separate batters, a vanilla and a chocolate, then you bake three cakes: one with a vanilla batter ring on the outside, a vanilla batter dot in the centre and a chocolate ring between them, then two cakes in the opposite bulls-eye pattern. Once they’re cooled, you stack them with a fruit spread between the layers. Make sure the layer with the vanilla outside ring is in the middle, then you slather the entire thing in a rich chocolate ganache.

Once it’s sliced, each piece has this really impressive checkerboard pattern and everyone “ooh”‘s and “ahh”‘s over your culinary prowess. I know, I know, no pictures?! We basically devoured everything before I could get a chance to photograph it…but I assure you it was impressive!